Sunday, 24 January 2016

Eleven of us fishing today, a venue that I have yet to get the better of, but a venue I really enjoy fishing as you generally need to work to keep the fish consistently coming. Plenty of bites are usually the order of the day, which after my last few weeks will make a bloody good change.

The weather was mild after a few frosts and cool temps, in fact it was 13 degrees when I left home just after 7am, almost Summery!!
I made it in good time and we were soon onto the draw, an end type peg would be my favoured pick, 15, 16, 25, 29 and 30, with 29 the usual hotspot. I have yet to fish the far bank pegs, usually I am confined to a peg in front of the car park.
I waited until near the end of the queue after last weeks decision to go in early.....I managed peg 20 today, Mr Burgess drew corner peg 16, after I told him he would get a corner, but I was pleased enough with my peg, it is a consistent peg going by previous results on the lake.
Lionel Legge drew to peg most wanted, peg 29 by the in fall and landslip.

I walked my kit around to the peg and set about sorting my kit and bait. For company I had Steve Burgess on peg 16, Lee Waller on 22 and I could see everyone else except Lionel on peg 29. Everyone had a bit of room, Steve with more than most.

Peg 20 Harescombe Match Lake, left, centre, right.

3 tops were put together, a rig for 2+1 section at 2 spots, this rig was also suitable for 11m in front, a rig for banded pellet down to my left at topkit length and almost right over at 13m. The last rig was identical to the last but with a non-banded hook for across at 13m and down to my right against the grass. All rigs were 0.2g floats with 0.14>0.10>B911F1 size 18.

Baits were 4mm pellets, corn, pinkies, maggots and a few micros, I did have some bread which remained unused. But really I wanted to base my attack around the maggots and corn.

At the all-in I didn't cup any bait in but opted to fish in the 11am direction with single maggot and fed 5 maggots every minute. It was 10 minutes for my 1st bite, this gave me a usual 8oz F1, a few more followed over the following 40 minutes before I lost one off the hook and it died. But I wasn't the only one catching, Steve B was getting a few as was Matt Challenger on the other bank. Keith Ray also had a couple.
I switched to 11m in front and tosspotted some corn and micros here, I had a few indications and bumped a fish, so I cupped in a semi-decent amount of micros and corn here before coming back short on maggots.
All the while I was feeding both edges, pointlessly in hindsight as I never had a fish from either all day. I also feed a half cup of corn and 4mm pellets in front of peg 19 as there seemed to be a good shoal of fish up that way between me and Steve, I say seemed to be, when in fact it was rather aquarium-ish in front of peg 17 and 18!!

So I was back short and picked up a couple skimmers and a gudgeon before a couple F1s were netted, I was still feeding regularly, the 11am direction with pinkies, the 1pm direction with maggot due to it being upwind.
I spent the next hour picking up odd silver and F1 from both 2+1 lines and just before the midway point of the match I was on 12 or so F1's and a 2lb carp along with a smattering of little silvers.
It did start to die away so I looked down by peg 19 on banded 4mm pellet and had a small F1 immediately, this was a false dawn so I went out in front at 11m. A good move as 3 or 4 more F!s to 1lb or so came my way before another lost fish spooked them.
I decide to go across, around 12 inches off the far bank, toss potting maggots and 4mm pellets, this gave me a nice flow of F1's and odd chub and I was doing okay. Although it seemed that Steve Burgess and Will Dearlove (p15) were plenty in front of me, Matt Challenger was also doing well enough and I would suggest the 2 guys on the far end bank would be catching.

1pm signalled a quiet spell for me and over the following 90 minutes I only managed 2 or 3 F1's and a small carp. Plus odd roach, I did try upping the feed and cattied some maggots in the rough vicinity of the far bank and I was soon back over there, which is generally where I stayed for the remainder of the match, only coming on the short lines to give the 13m line a rest.
As the last hour was under way everyone could see Keith Ray plundering his right margin, taking a carp or F1 every drop in, he looked like he could go close to winning, but these F1's can vary from 8o to 3lb+ plus the carp are always a welcome bonus at over 2lb each, running to 4lb or so.
I plodded away picking up a few F1's and skimmers before Will shouted the all-out at 3:30pm.

I finished with around 30 F1's and 2 baby carp plus a couple pounds of silvers, maybe 25lb I thought, I thought that Steve had 50lb+ just ahead of Will and Keith. Matty Challenger also had a late flurry of edge fish, but I wasn't 100% sure how the rest of his match went. To my right, Lee Waller struggled to catch many F1's as he was getting bites from small silvers and odd 4oz skimmer.

I packed my gear up and loaded the car before the weigh in got under way, starting at peg 25 and Ross Sewell had a couple of pounds then Lee Waller struggled his way to 16lb+. Next to weigh was me and my '25lb', my miss-guided estimate weighed 45lb 15oz, next up would surely be the winner, or at least 2nd spot. Steve Burgess, he only had 1 net in and to my surprise he totted up 44lb 4oz moving him to second place, then Will weighed in next and he had put a tidy net of 30lb 8oz. Keith weighed 39lb+ then we saw varying weights between 16 and 39lb until we got to the last one to weigh, Lionel Legge, he reckoned on 30lb, but his neighbour, Chris Szacaks, said he had more that that and so it proved when he totalled 40lb 2oz. This meant I had won on the day despite my array of lean spells.

So at least a day with plenty of bites, I do enjoy these closer contests with lots of bites, I just wish Harescombe was 50 miles closer!! My 1st win of the year under my belt, which is earlier than 2015....onwards and upwards.

No match for me next weekend as it stands, so I may well go and try something different. We shall see.

Sunday, 17 January 2016

A very short blog today, pretty much as nothing happened.
I arrived early, and it was ok weather wise, but the cold breeze and drizzle was about to set in.
I was the 1st to arrive and was one of pretty much everyone to not remember the diversions, but plenty of time to get there for the 8am draw.....which happened at 8:30.

I fancied the end 4 pegs on Speci or anywhere from 15 to 24 on the match lake, I didn't want pegs 1 to 7 really, though yesterday saw Bob Gullick win from peg 1 and Rod Wotton had 21lb of silvers from peg 5. 4 or 5 decent carp would be a good net in the scheme of things.
I managed my further ever peg along the nearside of the match lake, peg 7. A shallow peg and I doubted whether to actually go to the peg as a day on the sofa seemed a decent idea. But I went and gave it a bash.
For company I had matey Eric Fouracre on peg 5, Neil Purchase was on peg 3 and Brian Gatiss on peg 1. The next angler to my right was up on peg 11, he had nobody on peg 13, so a nice draw there by Mark Hembury.

I set up 3 rigs, a light rig for just past the middle in three spots to fish over different baits, a rig for next to empty pegs 6 and 8 plus a rig for over near-ish to the dead reed bed on the far bank at 13m or so.
Bait was a little groundbait, micros, pinkies, maggot and corn. Plus some expanders.
It was a 9:30 draw and it was 9:40 before I was ready, I cupped in bits and bobs, literally half a dozen maggots on one line, a walnut ball of loose groundbait on another and some micros (20 odd) on the 3rd middle line. Some maggots went across and down to peg 6, 2 pieces of corn and a sprinkle of micro went by peg 8.

That was the highlight of my match, it was around 90 minutes before I had a bite, a 2.5lb or so skimmer was netted from over the groundbaited area. 2 more missed bites, possibly small roach was how the next 2 hours went.
Elsewhere a couple guys had netted upwards of 7 carp and Mark on peg 11 had 2 lumps. Eric was now getting a few, and bumping a few, perch with the odd roach chucked in. Neil Purchase was getting a few silvers too.

A few others only had 1 carp, some hadn't had a bite and some were on 2 roach or similar.
I packed up at 1pm so I could get back to watch the Man Utd match away at Liverpool. Luckily the result, rather than the match itself, was a positive one. Plus the Gas had come from behind to win 2-1 at Oxford. So at least the footy was good.
A few others were packing up at the same time as me, I didn't get the results, but I would guess that pegs 22 and 24 would be there or there abouts plus pegs 32 and 33 had a couple or more of carp each.

Its not very often I don't weigh in, but today was one of those days.
Next weekend I am up on Harescombe with the PSV lads, hopefully, just possibly, I may have a few more bites, its meant to be up around 10 or 12 degrees by then.........we shall see.

Sunday, 10 January 2016

A chance from Avalon today, as PSV had a match on Tile lake at the well run Sedges fishery, usually the lake is worth a few bites and weights can be okay and pretty fair on this venue.
With the weather a touch colder in the last couple of days and a great deal of cold rain coupled with a nippy wind, things were expected to be tricky and although I commented to the others that 100lb could win it 40 or 50lb-ish would be in with a chance of framing.

Having arrived in plenty of time to have a chat with a couple guys and work colleague Paul Berry, who was pleasure fishing on Brick lake, so was Eric and Steve Fouracre and John Fuidge, they were practicing for the upcoming Silvers series run by Ron Stark.
I looked at the lake and fancied a corner peg, if not then 39, 25, 26 or 27 would suffice.
We had 13 fishing and I waited until towards the end of the rabble before plucking peg 35, I fancied a day on the silvers from this peg, Lee Waller was on 23 and he'd fish for the silvers too from that peg and I could see him easily enough.

Sedges, Tile lake peg 35

As I made my way, rather struggled my way, through the quagmire that is currently the separating the 2 lakes I arrived at my peg to find I had Keith Ray on peg 33 and Mark Radford on peg 27. I began sorting my kit our, micros sorted for the pole and the method feeder, a little groundbait was mixed and chopped up some meat. I also had some dead maggots, plus some expanders.
I set up a method feeder and 3 topkits, though 2 of them (the short meat and edge rigs never gave a knock).

The rest of the day went less swimmingly, I began on the feeder and never had a fish in the first hour, though Keith did have a couple, Mark also went fishless in this period.
A look on the pole saw me remain bite less at 13m, both over the groundbait line and the micros line, so back on the feeder and I was soon into my 1st carp of the day, although it was now 2hrs into the match!! I wasn't the only struggler.
Back on the pole to see if the silvers had arrived and 1st drop I had a 9oz skimmer, I know it was 9oz as it was my only silver fish all day!!
Next put in saw me connect with my 2nd carp of the day, which I landed. A 3rd came to the pole, but I wanted them to be skimmers, I also pulled out of a couple carp on the pole, I was fishing rather light for me, 0.08>18b611 hooks and 6 laccy, all my carp I hooked were on single maggot.Mark had switched from bread to meat on the hook and was beginning to pack a good weight together, which he carried on doing for the remainder of the match.

The match was now approaching 2pm and I was bored, nothing much was happening to me, Keith was getting the odd fish and I could see Will Dearlove (p39), Matty Taynton (p29) and Lionel Legge (p30) catching the odd fish, peg 31 was doing ok and I presumed Alan Healy on the other side of the island in front of me would no doubt be catching a few.
Another chuck on the feeder saw me net another carp right away, before I pulled out of a couple, possibly foul hooked.
That was my lot for the day.
I packed up, watched a bit of the weigh in and put my kit by the car to at least dry a bit. Mark Radford absolutely ripped us apart with over 160lb....

Next week I am down at Landsend with the Pawlett crew, we have 3 lakes but a decent perch peg would be nice as the weather looks more wintery this week and could be the cold snap we really need.

On a by note, I am looking to be running a series of Saturday matches this spring/summer, it is 5 rounds on 5 venues and will be decided as a combined silvers and carp section points.
The dates will be 28th May, June 11th, July 9th, August 6th and August 20th.
We have Avalon, Sedges Brick, Trinity Wildmarsh booked, also it looks like Viaduct Campbell and Landsend will be the other 2 venues (s.t.c)
I am, as it stands, limiting at 20 names and currently I have 15 or so interested, but will run a reserve list or maybe extend the numbers if I get 30+ confirms. I will take fees (inc peg fees) and stuff in Feb at some point, if you are interested then message me on Facebook or through here. Or by text on 07500007804.

Monday, 4 January 2016

Back to semi-normality today, the weather to start the day was rather crap, windy, wet, wet and windy....it was a touch nippier than of late, we even had a frost a couple nights ago. Surely the fishing would be a touch tricky today?

Anyways I arrived as usual, and wrote our 3 names on the sheet, not much in the way of chatter as there was only our Young One's side and Sedges left to draw, Eric and Steve arrived later than everyone else, so we were left with the last set of pegs. They were the same set of pegs as last week, 13, 27 and 39. Not the best set to be honest, Somerset Carpenters looked like they had the best pick in 11, 24 and 37.
The draw fell in the way that I was on the same peg as last week, peg 39 (see last week's blog for pics, saved getting my phone out....bonus). Eric was on snaggy peg 13 which Derek really struggled from and Steve was on the peg Eric won from last weekend, peg 27.

I arrived at my peg and set up the same rigs as last week, minus the pellet waggler and the open water meat line. So a skimmer rig, a carp to peg 40 rig, a topkit silvers rig and a mesh feeder to the island.
It was all rather wet and moods were not exactly high from most people given the conditions.
The lake also was 3 inches up and a lot more coloured thanks to the rains we have had in the last few days, so despite a few silver fish topping and odd sets of bubbles, I set my usual 15lb target for ok section points.
For company I had Jim Jenner on peg 37 and he had Tom Mangnall up on peg 35.

At the all in I started by feeding various spots and lobbed the feeder across......the next 2 hours never saw me get a bite on the feeder, but in my section only Jim had had a carp as had Keith Clapp up on peg 32. I actually more or less stayed on the feeder for over 2 hours because nobody was catching. Even Eric over on 13 was fishless, though in his section Phil Clapp, Mark Sweeting and Pete Wild had a few carp each. I did hear that Steve had a few fish though up on peg 27.

A switch to the pole at around 12:30 saw me put a couple rudd and roach in the net, so to have something to weigh in at least.....I did expect a few skimmers, and I did bump one and that really killed the swim. It was at this time that Tom had a carp on the pellet waggler, that was his only landed carp of the day, but he went on to land a few skimmers and bits on the pole, he lost a couple edge fish late on in the match. Jim was struggling, he was getting a odd silver on the pole but no quality.
At 1pm, just as the winds eased and rain subsided, I did have my 1st carp, 2lb mirror, much to my relief, this came on the feeder to a slightly different spot on the island as there looked like a tethered fish in the usual spot towards to the gap.

That fish was followed half an hour later by a second of similar size. I looked down the edge towards p40 but never had a bite there, so tried the topkit line but only had minnows so that was abandoned.
Back out on the tip with an just over an hour left and I was soon into carp number three, a baby 1.5lb common putting me, I thought, ahead of Jim and Tom. But with there being a few 8-11lb fish in the pegs, often in the margins, I needed and hoped for at least a couple more carp before the end.
At 2:45 I had my 4th carp, another 2lber, putting me to about 8lb.

As we approached the 3:30 all out I had a proper wrap round on the feeder and netted my 5th and largest carp of the day, a 4lb mirror was netted. That was my lot for the match. Not an eventful one to say the least, but it did look like it had fished tricky.

I packed my gear away rather quickly and loaded the car before heading to the car park and having a natter with Jamie, Keith, Phil and a couple others They reckoned that Steve Fouracre was likely to have won but 2nd spot could be anyones, oh and John Fuidge would win the silvers as he had a good few proper sized skimmers/bream. The weigh in soon started and I followed it right round the lake for a change.

We saw peg 1 weigh in 30lb or so, then Phil Clapp had mid-30lbs, Pete and Eric weighed in and around 20lb while Mark Sweeting had 27lb. As for John Fuidge, he duly dropped 22lb of silvers on the scales.
Further along was Jamie Cook, he had 31lb+ and then around to Mike West, he didn't weigh enough to threaten the section, but as is the norm he lost a few on the day.
Then came team-mate Steve Fouracre, he took the lead and the match with just under 50lb, bargain.
Rich Coles had 8lb-ish, then Tom had 7lb+ of silvers and a 4lb carp, Jim then had his solo carp and a few skimmers for under 10lb before it was me being last to weigh.
My 7oz of silvers was 1oz under my estimate....haha, but my 8 or 9lb of carp estimate was well out as the needle swung round to 19lb-ish, thankfully securing me the section win and at least some money in our kitty...phew!!

Team wise we won the day on weight from Sedges, Steve won and I got my section money, so not a bad day really. Phil Clapp was 2nd on the day.

So at last I did ok, put something back for the team and going into the last round....at the end of march, we still have a slim chance of winning overall, but realistically we want to secure 2nd spot ahead of Mosella, it is tight....very tight.

Next up for me is a match at Sedges, Tile Lake with the PSV guys, it has been a while since I fished that lake so my expectations are not to high.

Friday, 1 January 2016

Not as long a write up as in 2015, but thought I may as well boring you all for ten minutes with this blog.

January: 4 matches, 2 pick ups.
My 1st 'match' didn't go to plan, I thought I was booked into a match on Sedges' Tile lake, which at the time I was slowly getting to grips with......Turns out I wasn't booked on so I had a knock up with a few others on Brick Lake. I managed to catch a bunch of skimmers and a few carp to stick £40 in the pocket.
A week later I managed 3rd and another pick up with a PSV match on Sedges Tile lake, a nice day mostly fishing the waggler.
A match down at Landsend the following weekend saw me draw peg 39 on the speci lake, I chucked back 4lb of bits for nowhere.
My 1st match ever at Emerald Pools (sapphire lake) followed on the last Sunday of the month, I grasped 4th on the day which was won by Alan Healey with almost 100lb.

February: 4 matches, 2 pick ups
1st match was up at Harescombe, my 2nd ever visit, and I fished an ok match fishing 3/4 of the way across and some fish short, mostly on maggots. I managed 4th and the last payout on the day.
Then the following week it was back to Sedges' Tile lake and a DNW for me as I only had 2 baby roach on the maggot feeder.
Plantations Main Lake was the venue for PSV's next match and it is a nice venue but rather snaggy!!
I had a few silvers and 8 carp coming to the pellet waggler (in feb!!) and method feeder, enough to secure 2nd spot on the day behind top-rod Chris Szacaks.
Lastly I was over at Viaduct on Cary + Campbell......I drew my 'beloved' peg 130 and struggled my way to 4lb of silvers and not a sniff of a carp, they were up the other end of the lake where 116 and 125 filled 2 of the top 3 spots on the day.

March: 5 matches, 2 pick ups
PSV fished Landsend for the 1st match of the month, I drew peg 20 and struggled my way to 13lb+, sadly, or luckily, this was enough for another pick up and 3rd on the day....it was hard going as 37lb and 22lb were the top two weights.
The following weekend of the month saw me have a match on the Kings Sedgemoor Drain, a venue I love, and a day mostly catching on the whip saw me surprising most with 26lb 12oz of mostly roach shallow. Possibly one of the most enjoyable days I had last year. Jamie Cook finished ahead of me from a favoured peg with 36lb+, including some proper nice rudd.
Avalon the following week proved hard for nearly everyone and I came in 6th with 10lb 12oz, Adam Caswell won with 61lb, well clear of the 24lb weight that took second on the day.
Sedges' Tile lake was the venue the following week, but I was not enthusiastic about fishing and it showed in my efforts, 12lb for way down. Must try harder.....
Viaduct Campbell, peg 119, on a very windy day saw me go over in my nets, but not as badly as Will Dearlove who's errors cost him at least 2nd place, but my fits & starts day saw me put an under-estimated (really!!!) and knocked back by 8lb.....108lb 10oz was enough for 5th on the day.

April: 6 matches (inc 2 fisho's), 1 pick up
1st up was a match on the canal lakes at Shiplate, sadly my late surge of fish wasn't enough for a pick up as Matt Challenger won with some paste caught fish. I finished 6th in a tight contest.
The Gary Bull/England Disabled fund raising match at Summerhayes followed on the following Saturday and went really well raising over £500 for the cause. My match was ok, I managed 4th on the lake (sellicks) and picked up over £40 in section money as Des Shipp won overall with a knocked back 81lb from Longs lake.
Sedges was the next venue for me and a nice draw on Brick wasn't enough in the Silvers only contest, I was plagued by carp and my 15lb+ was 6th on the day, but I must have had 100lb of carp!
A trip to Gold Valley, which for most was rather crap as a lot went biteless, the day saw me on peg 92 on Middle Lake, 2 carp and 2 silver fish saw me around 3rd in section and weighed 20lb 2oz (17lb was 1 fish).
Avalon the following Sunday saw me draw peg 42 but it proved a tricky day for me as I struggled to catch either the silvers or carp consistently and had 17lb and 26lb+ respectively and my 44lb+ was around 10th on the day. Martin Heard dominated the match with 166lb of pellet wag caught fish, 77lb was 2nd to Tom Mangnall. Eric Fouracre had 30lb of silvers to win that pot.
Last match of the month was a Fishomania qualifier up at Makins where I drew well enough, but the day was a funny one, people walking along my catching zone, a broke pole section, smaller than average fish and the guy opposite making the most of someone who left early by catching over his leftover bait.
These set-backs may have cost me as I finished in the top 10 on the day with 65lb+, my fish were at least 1.5lb each less than the usual stamp of carp.

May: 7 matches, 2 pick ups
This month began in a less than good way for me, I fished Landsend and Viaduct a few times along with a match at Sedges in the first 3 weekends of the month, I struggled to trouble the scales with enough fish to win any money, but the 2nd last weekend saw me visit Staunton Court for the 1st time, I drew ok and managed to scrape enough carp that were not spawning to take 2nd spot on the day, weighing in a few ounces over 100lb.
The last match of the month saw me down at Avalon, on peg 13, where I began with a swim to rescue my silvers net. I went on to catch around 19 carp on the pellet waggler, but I lost loads to the snags, luckily they didn't cost me as my 106lb+ was 4lb ahead of Matty Taynton and gave me 1st on the day.
The evening matches at Sedges began in May and continued to September, providing me with the odd pick up, plus I was having the odd day over Trinity Wildmarsh lake with some cracking silvers nets to over 60lb.

June: 5 matches (inc 2 MMTs), 2 pick ups
The month began with Pawletts' All-Winners final on Lake 3 at Landsend, the 1st time fishing the lake for me, but hot conditions made it tricky but my mostly mugged fish from peg 70 saw me 2nd place behind top angler Eric Fouracre.
2 MMT qualifiers, 1 at Viaduct and 1 at Larford, didn't give me any money as the fishing was hard at both venues, however I should have weighed in at Viaduct as I may have had enough to win the section money from peg 121.....numpty.
Pawlett fished Shiplate's Main and Hawthorn Lakes on the 3rd weekend of the month, a draw of peg 15 on the main lake would be great as I won from there in 2014 with 100lb+ ahead of 2nd place.
Eric Fouracre drew that peg and had 175lb to win, I drew peg 3 on Hawthorn and managed to get 3rd on the day and 2nd on the lake with 68lb, Keith Clapp had 71lb from peg 1 which is a top draw, a couple late lost fish may have cost me 2nd.
Last match of the month saw me on Peg 3 down at Avalon, I never managed a carp all match but did manage a nice 26lb+ of silvers, sadly Matt Challenger had over 61lb of skimmers and bream to take the silvers' spoils, a great catch and venue match record. 122lb won the match to Lionel Legge.

July: 6 matches, 2 pick ups
The 1st match of the month though was the Pawlett Silvers' Winners final on Trinity Woodlands (changed from Wildmarsh......gggrr), I drew peg 14 on the far bank and was top weight on my bank with just under 22lb, the top 3 nets came from the 'solid' bank with Eric doing the club-double winning with 32lb 8oz, ahead of Vic and Jamie Cook. My 4th spot was enough for 4th on the day and a pick up.
A quiet 2nd week of the month with only a couple small matches at Sedges Canal lake (weds) and Landsend on a Saturday saw me not pick up, but did ok.
The 19th saw me at Sedges for a blind pairs match and ended up on peg 23 on Tile, I caught late on and managed a section win with 78lb 13oz (6th overall). I did spend all day watching fishery owner Jamie romp the win with 187lb+ from peg 38, Phil Clapp had 51lb of silvers from Brick lake. Jamie won the pairs with his partner, but he caught enough to win it himself, lol.
A small Saturday knock-up at Acorn saw Giles Cochrane win easily while myself and Kev Jefferies struggled.
Last match of the month was down at Landsend and saw Chris Davis win from peg 11, Alan Healey was 2nd from peg 13, it wasn't the best day weather wise but 3rd to 8th was separated by less than 10lb, I was the 8th rather than 3rd and could have done with the fish turning up half an hour earlier.

August: 8 matches, 4 pick ups
First up was a memorial match over at Apex Lake in Burnham/Highbridge, a venue I don't fish as often as I should and it should be match fished a lot more really. Anyways it was a tricky day and I was ounces out of the money in 4th place of mostly shallow caught rudd and roach.
Then came a match on Campbell lake, where I went to fish for silvers, I drew a carpy peg in 115 but stuck to my guns and caught 28lb+ of skimmers before the carp ruined my peg in the last hour and this cost me the silvers win as Mike Wilson had 32lb.
Pawlett fished Cary and Campbell the following week and I was on peg 128. It was very tricky going but the fish turned up late for me. I had hoped for silvers but was convinced pegs 123 to 126 would be better, I was stuck in between what to do and popped 22lb of silvers (4th on the day) and 105lb of mostly last hour carp gave me 127lb 12oz for 5th on the day. So no pick up. Mike Davis won with 261lb from in-form peg 112.
The following weekend saw me fish a small match on Tile lake at Sedges, peg 40 was my home and I managed to take the spoils with method feeder caught carp (127lb+). I then fished the mid-week open on the same lake and managed 3rd (104lb) to the same tactics but this time from peg 39 despite my neighbour falling in.
The next week I was down at White Acres with the family and had some decent fishing despite some of the worst weather I have encountered. I fished the Wednesday match and drew the flyer of all flyers, peg 16 on Twin Oaks, I fished rubbish but caught 124lb 8oz and won on the day, I qualified for the Winners Festival in October (but allowed to fish it in 2016).
I then fished the rover, hoping to get an early draw and the chance of Eery peg 13 or Twin Oaks 14-18, I didn't and chose 13 on Trelawny. I fished tidy for 40 odd pound and nowhere, having 2 anglers fish each peg either side of me possibly cost me a few pounds. The match was won on Twin Oaks but Chris Davis had Eery p13 and was 4th on the day.
Last match in August was a PSV match on Hawthorn down at Shiplate, I managed to draw peg 3, which I had earlier in the year, I hoped I had learned something then, and obviously I had as I just about managed to beat Brian Shanks on peg 1, my last hour or so boosted my net to 90lb 2oz to Brian's 80lb 7oz.

September: 6 matches, 1 pick up
A busy month for me, starting off with Pawlett's day out at Harescombe, I didn't manage to pick up as I was 6th on the day. Jamie Cook won with 75lb+ of worm caught fish (I think).
I was 7th the following week on a PSV match at Trinity Woodlands, it fished very hard in the main and some peeps really struggled.
Another match where the lake wasn't great followed, Lake 3 at Landsend saw me nearer the bottom of the pile as opposed to the top.
A 55 pegger at Viaduct saw me come second in section and 4th on the lake with 103lb 2oz from Cary peg 81, the shade covering the peg pushed fish out. Lodge lake gave 3 of the top 5 weights inc the top 2.
The River Huntspill was the venue for Pawlett on the 2nd last weekend of the month, and it fished fair, with the end pegs upstream producing best, but I had 5lb 1oz for third in my section.
Last match of the month saw me guest with HLS at Landsend fishery and I drew peg 6, thankfully a late run of carp pushed my weight to 44lb 6oz and 3rd on the day.

October: 4 matches, 2 pick ups
Not a busy month for me, only 4 matches, the 1st was at Sedges, on Tile lake where I pulled peg 32 from the basket and wasn't happy with the peg, but somehow I put 54lb 5oz on the scales to take 3rd spot on the day.
Then came a small match at Wellington Basins, a new venue for me, a small fish match that was awkward at times but a couple of nice perch along with lots of small roach gave me 11lb 7oz and a comfortable win.
Pawlett had a match at Avalon but the fish were not present for me in any numbers and my 24lb+ net was mid-field on the day, Mike West winning from peg 5 with 74lb+.
Lastly was Viaducts Lodge lake with the PSV lads, and again it fished hard and for all my efforts and labours, I was 5th on the day with 29lb 1oz. The winner, Chris Szacaks, had 37lb+ before there were 3 nets of 33lb and ounces. Very close.

November: 2 matches, 0 pick ups (3 team pick ups)
Avalon Teams of 3 (me, Eric and Steve Fouracre, aka The Young Ones) gave me my only 2 matches of November and I never had the best of times in either, though the team did ok as Eric won the 1st round from peg 3 to put some funds in the kitty as we came 2nd on weight in the 1st match. I was 3rd in section with 36lb+. Steve was 4th in section.
The 2nd match saw us pick up a bit of money as a team, well Steve won his section money and Eric had top silvers weight on the day but was 5th in section, me, well I was again 3rd in section behind Jamie Cook and Rich Coles.

December: 5 matches, 1 pick up (2 team pick ups)
Round 3 of the Teams event was the 1st match of the month and again it looked as though I had a duff draw, and I did struggle my way to 10lb thanks to a mixed bag of fish, sadly this was 3rd in section again, Steve was 4th in section and luckily Eric won his and was 2nd in the match, so again he put some coin in the kitty.
The 2nd weekend of the month saw the Pawlett Club's Xmas match at Sedges, I drew alright in peg 9 but not as happy as I would have been if I drew a corner peg. Intending to fish for silvers to qualify for 2016's Silvers' final I struggled for around 5 hours of the match but the last 60 minutes saw me catch a few skimmers and odd carp to surprisingly win on the day ahead of Steve Fouracre and Mike Davis, the bonus was that I was on a golden peg which gave me an extra £100. I had top silvers weight on the day so I qualified for the final too, bargain.
It was Avalon's Christmas match the following weekend and I had the worst draw of the final 3 pegs, with Eric Fouracre getting the best of them in peg 5 (he won on the day). I struggled to 15th and 5lb 7oz of silvers, losing a couple of decent skimmers that possibly cost me the silvers pool, I never had a sniff of a carp all match. Matt Challenger won the silvers with 2 skimmers/bream for a trickle over 8lb.
The last week of the month saw me fish a boxing day match on Sedges Brick lake, peg 17, I had 2 carp late on to boost my 8lb of silvers to around 32lb and 4th on the day behind pegs 11, 12 and 14, Jamie won from peg 14, 10 bites, 10 fish, 70-odd pound.
I then fished the next round of the Teams of 3 at Avalon on the 27th, I had what I thought could be a great draw, or it could be pants, peg 39. I thought Eric was on a pant peg in peg 27, but he won from there to put some more money in the pot. I had 2 carp (and a pike that didn't count, three in this series now) and some silvers for 13lb and section 4th, the fish being the other end of the gap/boards as Pete Wild had 50lb from p37....Derek Beards who was covering for Steve was last in his section.
Sedges won again on the day and look unbeatable in the league.

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So 2015 wasn't as busy as 2014, I cant see 2016 being as busy either as I am un-decided on my fishing focuses for the coming 12 months. I only managed to pick up in a 3rd of my full-length matches, take out the fisho/mmt matches and it becomes just over 40%, which isn't too bad considering how poor my draws have been a lot of the time (ie this winter...) and a duff September.
I did draw a few flyers though, peg 40 at Sedges and 16 on Twin Oaks at White Acres spring to mind.

My 1st match going into 2016 is another Teams of 3 match at Avalon, where the law of averages must give me a chance at the draw..........surely?

About Me

39yr old angler. I started fishing at around the age of 14 or 15. I was pretty much self taught as nobody in my family fished, it was magazine articles and by joining BAA's junior section.

I began fishing on the KSD, Huntspill and local club waters mostly. But the Exeter Canal and River Exe were regular places for me to fish.

I fished with the successful Bridgwater Juniors of that era, we had a bunch of talented anglers and were the final bunch of kids to come through the club ranks then.

We fished plenty of regional and odd national events, which were brilliant experiences.

I kept match fishing and plenty of pleasure fishing for a few years, doing rather well on these on the Rivers, Drains and Canals. Plus the odd decent result at Viaduct, Sedges and Avalon before these fisheries became what we see them as now. But I was losing interest.

Soon enough though attendances dropped on the natural venues and my lack of enthusiasm saw me quit the match scene in favour of specimen fishing, eels, bream, tench and then carp became my targets. 7lb+ eels and uk carp to 30lb+ were caught, plus double figured bream and tench among other species.

Eventually I settled down with my current wife and we have 2 brilliant kids, all of whom fish.

So after a few years catching various specimen fish I decided that I wanted to return to match fishing, my laid back, yet competitive approach to life was the main pull.

I knew that matches on natural type venues would be rare so I began my return by fishing the evening sweeps at Apex and Sedges during 2012. I did ok, not great as I was so out of touch with the current trends like pellet fishing, method feeders, pellet wags and such.

But I learned a bit, coupled my busy approach to fishing saw me fully enthused in getting back into it properly.

My favourite styles of fishing are still the waggler and maggot/caster approach for silver fish or the whip for roach. But the needs for these types of tactics are not needed much so I have learned to accept and enjoy what is required on commies, and I seem to be doing ok.

The method feeder was an approach I avoided, but now I enjoy it, the pellet wag is another I am improving on. Which keeps me interested. My inclination to fish for silvers is my current weakness.

Having fished my 1st White Acres festival in March 2014, I plan on doing at least one a year as I learned loads and the fishing is a nice variation on my normal venues.

I have not turned my back on the carp fishing and am still a member on a brilliant water that will be (even more) special in a few years time, so I have some un-finished business in the pipe line.